Robert O’Neill has
questioned a basic idea of EFL teaching that too much teacher talk is bad and
therefore more 'student talk' can be achieved by reducing teacher talking time.
In contrast, he introduces the idea of teacher talking quality; it’s not the
time the teacher spends talking, but the quality of the teacher’s talk*.
O’Neill certainly makes a valid point, yet it requires further elaboration.
First, the idea that
decreasing teacher talking time (TTT) will increase student talking time (STT)
needs to be addressed. One can imagine a teacher doing various things, e.g.,
telling stories, partaking in speaking activities, and giving instructions.
Should a teacher avoid talking when it comes to piquing students’ interest;
relaying some culturally relevant anecdotes; explaining how an activity is
going to work? I don’t see how a
seasoned teacher could argue that TTT should be avoided when it comes to these
situations. TTT versus STT becomes important
when considering speech which does not result in student learning. Such speech
from teachers would therefore be lacking in quality and efficiency, but what
does that look like?
STT and TTT have to do
with time, which is easily measured. O’Neill has proposed the acronym TTQ
(teacher talking quality). Quality in comparison to time is not quite as
objective, which is why I believe the discussion of TTT x STT seems to be a
recurrent theme in TEFL. That’s not to
say that quality can’t be measured. One could design a rubric for scoring the
quality of teacher talk just as we’ve developed a scoring rubric for the writing
assignments we give to our students. This TTT rubric should give points to a
teacher who uses elicitation, gives practical and clear explanations, checks
for understanding by asking concept questions, allows students to be
responsible for their self-directing their speech, organizes students into
speaking pairs or groups, and tolerates silence long enough to give students
time to formulate a response. Likewise, this TTT rubric should take points away
for a teacher who speaks for many minutes without elicitation, gives
explanations full of terminology, transitions to an activity without first
asking questions that check student comprehension, controls or dominates
discussion to the point where students have limited involvement in the learning
process, or impatiently reinitiates talk without giving students time to
process so as to formulate a proper response.
Above all, teachers
need to be humanistic and understand that although silence can be used as a
technique in specific instances (allowing the student time to find their
words), being silent all the time is not natural and doesn’t cater to
everyone’s learning needs. Students who seek clarification or wish to share
their experiences with the class should be welcomed with a warm response from
the teacher. In fact, teacher talk can include current issues in comparison to
dated textbooks or audio, disseminate relevant content, and fine-tune language
to a level that is readily comprehensible based on that student’s level of
language development. We also can’t forget that the teacher’s English is a
source of input for our students to process both consciously and unconsciously.
To summarize, it’s safe to say that there are
some strong points to O’Neill’s argument for TTQ. When TTT is dry and
monotonous, void of elicitation, or needlessly complicated, it becomes obvious
why TTQ is so crucial. That is not to
say that TTT shouldn’t be limited at times when students are capable of some learner
autonomy; they can guide their own discussions, which both further involves
students in the learning process and develops their speaking skills when it
comes to turn-taking or discovering the meaning of vocabulary or grammar rules
for themselves. English classes can’t be all about the vocabulary and grammar,
however. Teacher talk is needed to build
rapport with our students so that they not only learn the language but are
given opportunities to use the language in ways that are meaningful and
humanistic. In the end, it bodes well for the teacher who recognizes when it is
necessary and not necessary to talk during class, duly combined with the idea
that when TTT is warranted, it is done with our students’ learning needs in
mind.
*Robert O'Neill –
IATEFL, April 2004
